Troubleman
by theRighteousMan
Summary: Steve's all but comatose in a hospital in D.C., and the Avengers can't take one more second of being apart from their beloved leader. / The one where Sam Wilson is running on caffeine and no sleep when he meets the Avengers, and it goes just about as bad as you can imagine. And then a little bit worse. Post CA:TWS, one-shot, family friendly so K. Superheroes in Stark Tower 'verse.


When five superheroes bust into Captain America's hospital room one unremarkable day in April, the last thing they expect to see is a man sitting by Steve's bedside. Let alone a man none of them have ever seen or heard of before.

He's dark skinned, with a neat beard and a mustache that Tony will look back on later and appreciate. When he stands and turns around to see who has just barreled his or her way into Captain America's recovery room, they also notice he's tall and trim, and very fit.

"What the–?" he cuts off when he claps his eyes on the five Avengers clumped awkwardly in the doorway. Steve slumbers on, peacefully unaware. "Oh."

Peter, who's unable to actually fit inside the room itself on account of the four other people clogging the door in front of him, confusedly peers in at the strange man through the window in the hall. Percy peeks out from between Bruce and Clint with squinted eyes and a miniscule frown.

Tony Stark, who just so happens to be the vanguard of the Avengers' valiant effort to visit Rogers while he's recuperating, raises an eyebrow at the man. "Who're you? A fan? Security breach? JARVIS, security breach?" He makes a move to pull out his phone, most likely to call security.

The man does a double take, first at the man, then at the cell. "What? No, man, I'm Steve's friend. Sam. Sam Wilson. You probably saw me on the news." The five other superheroes stare back at Sam with blank expressions. "The Falcon? Nothing? Seriou– Oh, whatever, just get inside! You're causing a scene." Out in the hallway, a few occupants and their families from nearby rooms are staring curiously at the small mob of people trying to push through the door.

The Avengers file in awkwardly, feet shuffling as they all try not to jostle each other in the close proximity. Peter closes the door on his way in. Clint shuts the blinds to peeping eyes.

Sam stares at them in their little clump with mounting discomfort, but he takes his seat again, now sure that this isn't another HYDRA attack dead set on taking out Cap.

"So, you're uh… Steve's sidekick?" Percy asks after a tense moment of silent, cocking his head to the side. His gaze sweeps over Sam, assessing him.

"I'm not his sidekick. I'm the Falcon. You know, dude with wings. Cool sunglasses. Flies around taking on HYDRA guys from above," Sam says, a little shell shocked that he's meeting the Avengers for the first time and one of the first things that happens is some teen asks if he's a sidekick to a ninety six year old soldier.

"That sounds a lot like a sidekick to me," Peter chimes in helpfully.

Sam narrows his eyes at the other teenager. "Who are you kids anyways? Why are you here?" he asks. The big faces, like Iron Man and Hawkeye he knows. Even Dr. Banner is well-known to be the Hulk. And Thor is definitely absent, what with the lack of long blonde hair and blocky hammers. But children? Come on.

The two teens narrow their eyes right back at him, seemingly offended. Hawkeye grabs their shoulders. Dr. Banner shakes his head at the one with black hair.

A knock sounds on the door and the tension dissipates, if momentarily. In strolls Natasha Romanoff, presumably back from some super-secret meeting with her spy buddies. She looks remarkably well put together considering that SHIELD fell only two days ago. She's wearing minimal makeup and her hair hasn't been straightened, but at least she's showered and fresh-smelling, and obviously running on more than a few shots of espresso, a can of Monster, and a handful of fifteen minute naps.

"Boys," she greets with a polite smile. "Are you all playing nice now?" She strides swiftly into the room and closes the door behind her. In one hand she holds a disposable cup of coffee, which she hands to the sleep-deprived Sam.

"You know him?" Tony asks, breaking the silence.

"Of course," Natasha says. She puts a hand gingerly on Sam's shoulder. "This is Sam Wilson. He helped Steve and me with taking down SHIELD."

"Right," Tony says, trailing off.

"And Sam, this is Tony, Bruce, Clint, Peter, and Percy."

"Uh-huh," Sam says, frowning at Peter and Percy.

Bruce speaks up, "Is this a bad time?" They all glance at Steve, still laid up and unmoving. Not counting the super soldier, there are seven fully-grown people in the one small hospital room. It's a struggle to avoid knocking elbows with another, let alone be out of arm's reach with anyone else.

"Maybe," Natasha says, and while her smile reads as apologetic, no one is really sure.

"Yes," Sam replies at the same time. He takes a long drag of his coffee and wishes it were quiet again.

"Absolutely not," a third voice chimes in, slow and tired, but strong despite itself.

Every eye in the room darts over to Steve's semi-prone form bundled up in its hospital bed. He's awake, even though thirty seconds ago he was all but comatose. His blinking is sluggish and he doesn't really move anything aside from his head and his hands, but it's enough for the rest of his teammates, whose faces light up with a range of emotions, from relief to pure joy.

"Steve," Percy says, relieved, and separates himself from the group of heroes before the rest of them can react. He dives for an empty chair next to the bed. "Are you okay?"

Even bundled up in bed with three healing gunshot wounds and a myriad of mottled bruises and gashes, Steve laughs. "Getting there," he promises his younger teammate.

The other Avengers take this as an invitation to flock to his bedside. Clint and Tony both have to reach over and ruffle his hair while he's powerless to stop them, and Bruce takes his chart from the end of his bed and begins flipping through it. Peter joins Percy next to the bed. Sam and Natasha hang back.

"Alright there, Cap?" Tony asks with a trademark smirk in place, but everyone can see something friendly and shining through his arrogant smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Steve mutters, grinning. His hand lazily swats at his head, trying to rid it of Tony's and Clint's touches.

"So Steve, I hear you were a fugitive," Clint says pointedly. "What was that all about?"

"A lie created by HYDRA," Natasha interjects, stepping forward.

Bruce looks up from Steve's medical clipboard. "So they're actually gone then? SHIELD too?"

"It looks like it," Natasha promises quietly to the three other adult Avengers, who, at this point, are the only Avengers left listening. There's Sam, but he remains silent. "They fell with the helicarriers. Now, speaking of HYRDA, Steve is still very fragile and probably shouldn't be seeing so many visitors at once. If you were to come back later…"

Tony holds up a hand to halt Natasha. Surprisingly, she quiets. He beckons those listening to the back of the room, and Sam meanders over to join in on their big boy talk. Steve is left completely to the company of Percy and Peter, who are now regaling him with what's happened in New York over the past couple of months since Steve was in D.C.

"We're not leaving," Tony says. "Not because you say so. If the doctors try to kick us out, I'll consider it. If Steve wants us to go, then we will. But just because he's been through the ringer and now you two get a little jumpy because your best buddy suddenly has some old friends to play with, doesn't mean we need to leave."

Sam frowns. "You weren't there, and you don't know what happened. He needs to rest."

Natasha nods, even though her steely gaze is fixed disapprovingly on Tony. "Sam is right. He doesn't need anyone interfering with his health right now."

Clint scoffs loudly. "What, so you three save the world together and suddenly your group is so close knit that you can't even talk to us anymore? Oh, the Avengers, those guys are old news. They haven't been relevant for two years."

"There's a lot that's happened that you don't understand," Natasha bites out.

"Like Barnes?" Bruce says.

Sam and Natasha fall silent.

Tony smirks. "Yeah, we know the secret password to the clubhouse. Pro-tip, if it's so secret, don't dump it on the internet for all to see, especially when certain geniuses who just so happen to be good at hacking and decoding make it their job to dig up this kind of stuff."

"Hey," Sam says, voice low. "This is sensitive information."

"Sensitive information that we know about," Clint responds. "We're not leaving."

Sam scoffs. "And let me guess. Your little teenage buddies over there, they're cleared to be around HYRDA knowledge? Where'd you pick those two up, the pediatric ward?"

"Hey!" Tony snarls. "They have as much right to be here as you do. Maybe more. They're his teammates."

"Yeah, sure, and I'm Rogers's sidekick."

"Well I guess Percy and Peter were right then, because they're Whirlwind and Spiderman, and you're a wannabe superhero trying to make it in the big leagues!" Clint is seething at his partner and her new best friend. His glare doesn't let up, not when he realizes that such a secret wasn't his to divulge, not when Tony, Bruce, and Natasha convey as much with very pointed stares, and certainly not when Sam Wilson falls silent, seemingly abashed.

Natasha intensifies her frown. "You're being immature, Barton."

"And you're being pretentious!" Bruce snaps as quietly as is possible. Percy and Peter talk on, unaware. If Steve can hear what's going on (which he probably can, with his super-hearing), he doesn't comment or interfere. "You aren't his bodyguards, and we're his teammates and friends just as much as you. So get off your high horse. We're not here to talk about HYDRA. We're here because Steve just fell out of a helicarrier, and we care about him."

Percy's voice suddenly carries over to them. "Tony called me in sixth period and told me you were in the hospital, so I got up and just ran out of the classroom. Right in the middle of class. My teacher and a couple administrators chased me down the hall but I found a door and bolted. Pete gave his school the slip too. Then we called Clint and he gave us a ride here," he says. Steve's face struggles to convey both his 'you need to be disciplined' mentality and 'that's the funniest thing I've heard all week'.

It doesn't really matter that he settles for chiding both teens, because regardless his face is softer and more open than it's been since he moved to D.C. Almost simultaneously, the four adult Avengers realize Steve actually looks less like the ninety year old soldier and more like the twenty-eight year old kid that he should be. Even after Barnes, after SHIELD put him at the very top of its hit list, Sam begrudgingly admits that Steve looks happy.

He supposes the Avengers can stay for an hour.

.

 _a/n: this was supposed to be lighthearted and full of Sam/Avengers bonding. And then Sam feels cranky because he hasn't slept, and so he gets confrontational. And Natasha tends to get kinda overprotective after she finds Steve bleeding, unconscious, and with half of the Potomac in his lungs. And Percy and Peter are authority-opposing teens who dislike the mean way this new guy is looking at them and bossing them around, so then this one-shot becomes rife with tension and defensive glares, and what can you do? Man, I tell you, these characters have minds of their own._

 _Also, note that I am on a roll with these things, and go check my profile for my universe plan. Because after two and a half years of just kinda writing what I wanted to, I actually have some goals I want to accomplish with these stories. Please review, follow, favorite, and of course, check out my other stuff. Thanks for reading!_


End file.
